But the head of the state's financial supervisory commission raised the stakes by saying that the creditors of Daewoo Motor were likely to agree to swap the ailing firm's debt for equity, a move that would prevent the sale of the firm at a bargain price.

"We don't rule out the possibility that GM could also buy Ssangyong and Samsung Motors," said Lee Ki-Sup, spokesman for GM's Seoul office. "But the priority is still on our talks with Daewoo Motor." Daewoo Motor and Ssangyong are units of the debt-laden Daewoo Group which is being dismembered by its mostly state-run creditor banks. Samsung Motors is part of Samsung Group.

Analysts said GM's expression of interest in the two other firms and reiteration of its interest in Daewoo could be aimed at discouraging any attempt to sell the latter toanother firm by offering to take the other less desirable companies as well.

GM and Daewoo Motor have been in prolonged talks on a strategic alliance or a stake sale. They signed a memorandum of understanding in August to step up the momentum of the talks but so far there has been no concrete progress.

Analysts say both Samsung Motors and Ssangyong could prove difficult to sell separately because of their limited capacity and market penetration, but Daewoo remains a prize, given its big market share domestically and in parts of Eastern Europe.